Recruits, Especially from the South, Are Getting Injured at Alarming Rates in Basic Training

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Army recruits are getting injured at an alarming rate in basic training, costing the government millions of dollars to rehabilitate them or eventually pay them disability compensation, according to a study published in the Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases medical journal.

Researchers found that 34% of the Army's 99,335 trainees in 2017 sustained at least one musculoskeletal injury. Half of those injured were from eight states in the South, namely Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Southern states contribute the most Army recruits compared to each state's general population of young adults, according to data from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Army planners in recent years have become increasingly concerned over new recruits' declining physical fitness. Participation in high school sports has dropped in recent years while childhood obesity rates have reached "epidemic levels," according to research from the National Library of Medicine. 17% of U.S. children are obese, the research found, a number that has been steadily rising for decades.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/recruits-especially-south-getting-injured-194451960.html

Yikes! I think I remember only one person in my company being injured during basic training back in the 70s.